A noncommittal grunt was his reply, so I continued, “I find it even more interesting that you agreed to come with us to Chili’s.”
He scoffed, and I fought to stifle a giggle. I loved him, but he could be pretentious when it came to drinking and never shared mine and Lindsey’s enthusiasm for 2 for 1 drink specials at chain restaurants. “So what gives?” I asked. “You and Lindsey could barely stand to be in the same room together a month ago, and now we’re all besties going out for margaritas together?”
His reaction was visceral. The giggle I was fighting to bite back exploded violently through my lips at his next words. “I will NEVER be besties with that vile, devil bitch. We’ve simply come to an agreement.”
My retort died on my lips as I caught a glance of Lindsey’s coppery hair shining in the late afternoon sun from across the street. She spotted us easily and made a beeline for the car. I studied her attire with curiosity—she was seriously overdressed for a tutoring session in Addleston. I considered my own outfit of boyfriend crop jeans and a Blue Jackets t-shirt. Surely she would have told me if the plans changed and we were going somewhere other than Chili’s.
There was only one explanation. She was clearly banging whatever poor schmuck was tutoring her in her bio course.
I shook my head at the thought and turned my attention back to Nate. “So an agreement, huh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you care to tell me what it is?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Nate,” I said, a whiny tone stretching his name for several seconds longer than necessary. The door to the car blew open with the frenzy that was Lindsey “getting out of the cold.”
“What are you whining about?” she asked breathlessly as she shoved her backpack between her legs and buckled her seatbelt. I rolled my eyes.
“Nate won’t tell me why you guys are suddenly so cool with one another.”
Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Nate scowled, Lindsey grimaced, and I found myself rolling my eyes for what felt like the thousandth time in the past twenty minutes. “I wouldn’t ever say we’re cool. I still hate his bougie, queen ass. We have more of an understanding.”
“Which is what? Because Nate won’t tell me,” I asked as I pulled carefully onto the street and started the inconvenient drive to Mt. Pleasant. I seriously needed the asshole to get her shit together and save money for gas, so she would stop mooching from me in the rides department, too.
I didn’t need to see the physical act of eye-rolling to know it was happening. “You’re kind of a disaster, Charlie, and I mean that with like the most love ever.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said, venom accompanying my clipped words, “I’m not offended at all.”
“Come off it, Charlie. You’re an accident-prone mess, and you have all the charisma of a wet paper bag when it comes to men.”
The indigence I felt was immediate, but my reply was cut short with Nate’s next statement. “Yes, that exactly. Now tell me what happened with that hockey guy on Friday.”
My attention was laser-focused on the road. If either of them saw my face, they would see the flush I could feel heating my cheeks. They each knew me well enough to know when I was lying, and I really wanted to avoid all topics Valors, including any and all conversation about the deliciously filthy time I had with Sean Tremblay two days before.
“I didn’t go. I wasn’t feeling well. You saw me going to the drug store, Nate.”
Lindsey cocked her body toward me from the passenger seat. I glanced over quickly to see a surly stare and crossed arms. “Quit your bullshitting, Charlie. I know you lied about Friday.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever, I know you were there. Cam definitely saw you and Sean making out by the locker room and couldn’t wait to tell me about it. I will tell you that my feelings are less hurt by your lies with the simple knowledge that you’re fooling around with, in my humble opinion, one of the sexiest men to ever grace a Valors’ uniform. Regardless, you are going to tell us exactly what upset your stomach on Friday, or I’m going to tell Emily about all of the Valors players you’ve had sex with.”
“But I haven’t slept with any Valors’ player!”
“Uh-huh. So you didn’t fuck him. What the hell happened, Charlie? I already know all about Nate’s texts, so don’t try to weasel your way out of this.”
For the love of all things good and Gordie in this world. I wished I could bury my head in my hands, if only to hide my face and my shame from the two people in the world that would celebrate my heinous behavior. Instead, I focused on regulating my breathing while changing lanes on the busy road. Lindsey loved me, but she loved gossip, drama, and intrigue more. There was no part of me that doubted she would tell Emily I had slept with a whole slew of sexy athletes. Hell, she would probably recite her list to her older sister. It was official, the woman was an evil genius.
I bit my lip harder than intended, and the coppery taste of blood washed over my tongue. I pushed the answer out with one rushed puff of breath, “Sean went down on me in Coach’s office. Em and Joseph nearly caught us, but Devon Cote saved our asses. I’m not sure if he knows what happened. And I haven’t responded to any of Sean’s texts in two days.”
Their laughter was loud and raucous and everything you would expect to hear if you’d just told a hilarious joke. Except I wasn’t joking. They were genuinely hysterical over the mess I was making of my life. I seriously needed to drum up some new best friends fast because those two just weren’t cutting it anymore.
— D —
Sitting across from Sean at our bi-weekly team dinner proved to be far more entertaining than I initially thought it might be. The assistant captain was in a surly sort of mood, and our good-natured ribbing wasn’t helping with it. He was almost unbearable to deal with since Friday, a fact that most of our teammates attributed to the ass chewing Coach gave him when he made his public appearance at the Skates and Skirts event nearly an hour late.
I suspected that a certain blonde was the source of his irritability. We hadn’t exactly talked about what happened, but the asshole could’ve said thanks to me for keeping his ass out of trouble with Coach Martin. The car ride to the Chili’s near our apartment complex was filled with awkward silence once Sean snapped at Cam for asking him where Charlie disappeared to at the event.
I smirked at the memory of Sean’s words. “She hasn’t texted since Friday. Fucking drop it, man!” It might’ve been a little sick that I found it gratifying knowing he was struggling with her, but would it really be fair for him to get what he wanted from her so easily when I couldn’t even get a smile?
My entertainment at the man’s expense multiplied tenfold at the look on his face when Cam shouted, “Oi! Lindsey! Charlie!”
It only lasted a moment, but his expression shifted from surly to embarrassed when we both heard Louie Davis, a veteran d-man on the team, whispering to one of his linemates. “Isn’t Tremblay fooling around with one of those girls?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Henrik Andersen whispered back, “but I think it’s the chubby one in the Blue Jackets shirt, not Emily’s little sister.”
I wanted to throttle Davis when he turned to Sean and said, “I know it’s been a while since Cassandra, man, but damn. I didn’t realize Jenny Craig was your type now.”
Sean’s cheeks went a bit pink as Davis and Andersen laughed into their beers. I offered him a shrug and a smirk, but heated anger burned at my core. Women like Charlie were hard to come by. She was smart, a little sassy, and sexy as hell. Sean should’ve been shouting from the rooftops that he was seeing her. Instead, he shifted in his seat, and his surly glare returned as he stared toward the front of the restaurant in clear discomfort. For the umpteenth time, guilt gnawed at my stomach at the realization that I was the one that pushed them together in the first place.
Annoyance tinged with anger filled his eyes as the women and their friend Nate rounded the corner of the bar and a
pproached our cluster of tables. Lindsey and Charlie couldn't have looked any different. Charlie’s look of jeans and a t-shirt screamed comfort, but she still looked sexy as hell. Lindsey was dressed to turn heads in heels and a sparkly number; her sexiness was a different brand than her best friend’s. Nate looked bored with the entire scene.
I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but Charlie looked even more surly than Sean as she marched toward our table with her friends. Her arms were crossed over her chest, a tight frown pulled the corners of her mouth down, and she walked behind her friends with her head lowered slightly. Her blonde hair was pulled back, sitting low on the nape of her neck, like it was the night I met her. What I assumed was a new pair of glasses sat on her yellow-and-gray hued nose, and I couldn’t help but note that she once more looked like the woman I affectionally termed Sexy Librarian. She stood demurely behind her friends when the trio finally stopped near our table. A questioning look filled Charlie’s eyes when she glanced up and caught me staring.
Cam hopped down from his chair and greeted the women with enthusiastic half-hugs and Nate with a fist bump. “What are y’all doing here?” He asked, excitement in his voice as his eyes traveled Lindsey’s body in a quick once-over. I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t wait to hear him gush for hours on end about how hot he thought Charlie’s best friend was. The urge to lock myself in my room to live my life as a recluse was nearly overwhelming after Friday night’s diatribe.
Lindsey’s answering giggle was soft, and I didn’t try to hide my exaggerated gag behind their backs. If I wasn’t busy taking a pull from my beer, my jaw might’ve dropped all the way to the floor when Charlie sent a secret smile my way and mouthed, “Gross, right?”
Sean brushed past me and asked Charlie for a private word. We were near the back of the group of tables, with a secluded corner not far away. The corner was far enough away from the majority of our teammates that they couldn’t hear the conversation. It was not far enough away from our table for me, Cam, and Charlie’s friends to be able to ignore the heated exchange.
“What the hell?” Sean bit out, and she grimaced. I could see her mouth open to respond and then snap shut as he continued, “You ghost me for two days and then show up to team dinner like you’re my fucking girlfriend?”
I wanted to throttle him as his words floated towards our table, and I reminded myself that it wasn’t my place. As attractive as I found Charlie, as interested as I was in her from day one, I was the one to encourage him to pursue her. On top of that, she seemed to find me annoying most of the time. It wasn’t my place, but damn, I wanted it to be.
— C —
My hands clenched into fists at my side. My mouth fell open to respond, but it snapped shut just as quickly. How could I respond to that? I’d been caught up in the fact that Cote and I shared a secret, commiserating moment—something that I wouldn’t have ever deemed possible based on previous interactions. Sean’s words caught me more off guard than the heated glances I noticed Cote sending my way as we walked up.
I fought to control my ragged breathing—inhale. exhale. inhale. exhale. “I literally had no idea you would be here. Linds asked me out for dinner and drinks, which isn’t un-fucking-usual between friends, so I accepted!”
“Solid excuse,” he spat as his face reddened. I returned to the night we met. His face reddened then, too, a sign of his anger and embarrassment. My heart plummeted in my chest at his next words, and I considered whether or not punching him again would actually land me in jail this time around. “I don’t know why I expected more of you than an average puck slut.”
My breathing paused for a short second as an unbridled fever roared through my body. Nails dug into my palms, and I actively resisted the urge to deck the stupid motherfucker. “I am not a puck slut, you inconsiderate cock muppet!”
The shift in his behavior was immediate. I wasn’t sure what it was about my vile words that caused Sean to pull up short, but his face softened. He took a step toward me, his hand outstretched before him like I was some kind of rabid animal preparing to attack. “That’s not what I meant.”
That moment might have been the one that actually turned me into a rabid dog—one that was angry, embarrassed, and backed into a corner. “You literally just said I was acting like your regular old, run of the mill puck slut!” I spat while pushing past him roughly.
Sean’s hand latched around my bicep. And although it was against my better judgment, I allowed him to pull me to a stop. My jaw clenched as I turned to face him, noticing in the time it took me to turn that Devon stared at us with a look mixed of anger and disbelief. I didn’t allow myself to get caught trying to figure out why Devon was pissed when all I could focus on was Sean with his hands raised before him in an odd sort of peace gesture. “Charlie, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out that way I meant it to.”
“Oh, so you only accidentally called me a slut? That’s good to know. This is me only accidentally telling you to go fuck yourself!” I exclaimed, my voice rising to a level that was higher than appropriate for a family dining establishment.
I successfully pushed past the man and stomped toward the exit of the restaurant. I was just hitting the pavement of the side parking lot when his voice hit me again. “Will you stop being stupid about this? It’s not like you’re fucking your way through the team like Lindsey!”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked as I turned toward him. His hands were clenched in fists at his sides as he marched down the sidewalk toward me.
The anger on his face reflected the rage roiling through my stomach. I wasn’t sure if I was angrier about his pride being hurt at his team’s knowledge that he was involved with me, or about the fact that I let myself be talked into some sordid relationship with him by the best friend that he just essentially called a slut. “Your solution to inferring that I’m a slut is reassuring me that at least I’m not as big a slut as my best friend?”
My arms crossed over my chest, and I stared over his shoulder with a clenched jaw. The skin of my palms prickled at the feeling of my nails digging deeply into them, and I rolled my eyes at the sight of Devon approaching from the end of the sidewalk. Out of all the people that could come strolling out of the restaurant, it would be him.
“Oh, come off it! We both know how many of my teammates she’s fucked around with,” Sean was near-shouting as Devon paused about halfway down the sidewalk. His eyebrow cocked, and he glanced over his shoulder, presumably to see if anyone else filed out of the restaurant after us. It was a small mercy that no one had.
I chewed my lip and started to tell Sean that we had an audience, but his next words stilled me. “And I’m gonna be real honest here. Lindsey goes home with one of the guys at every event her sister isn’t at. The night we met? I’m sure you were meeting her, and I know she had her eyes on me for a while—I’m sure we would’ve fucked if your clumsy ass wasn’t in the way. If you played your cards right, you might’ve been able to get Devon to pity fuck you since he’s into girls like you. But no, you had to be such a fucking bitch that everyone’s night was ruined!”
Even from halfway down the sidewalk, I could see Devon’s eyes widen. My arms shot to my sides again. He at least had the decency to seem absolutely mortified by Sean’s words. My jaw clenched, and my teeth ground together. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. My fists clenched and unclenched rhythmically at my side as I took the steadying breaths and turned my attention back to the infuriating man in front of me.
“You know what, Sean? Thank you; it was super nice of you to clue me in early on the fact that you’re a total fucking asshole.” My hands were shaking as they reached for the keys clipped to my belt loop. I turned away and began to walk toward my car.
I could hear his huff of breath and the sound of his feet stomping in the opposite direction. “Devon was right; you are a total bitch,” he called over his shoulder.
“Hey, keep me out of this!” Devon protested, the quality of his voice causing my feet to still. Was that regret I heard
lacing his tone? Surely not. I clutched my keys tightly in my hands, and I wished the coolness of the metal could wash over me entirely to ease the heat of the anger raging through my body.
“Don’t worry about me, I guess I’m going to go try to get pity fucked somewhere else,” I shouted back before storming to my car.
I collapsed into the driver’s seat with a shuddering breath. I’d known it would only be a matter of time before the man realized that he was wasting his time on an embarrassment such as myself, but it didn’t make swallowing around the knot in my throat any easier. I closed my eyes to fight the heat building behind them and forced myself to breathe.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Chapter 9
— C —
“I think you should give him another chance,” Lindsey said as she checked over her shoulder before merging onto the highway. Two weeks had passed since the disastrous night at Chili’s, and I was still avoiding all things Valors like the plague. Several apologies from Sean sat unanswered in my messages. I even received one from Cam asking me to at least hear his best friend out. Low blow, Sean.
“Absolutely not,” I responded while deleting that day’s string of text messages from the man.
Nate scoffed from the back seat, and I raised my head to make eye contact with him in the rearview mirror. He ran his fingers through his hair, acting as if he were fixing it in the mirror rather than silently judging me. I rolled my eyes before turning them back to my phone.
“It’s nice that the two of you are agreeing on something for once,” I muttered as I logged into my e-mail account. I recently began e-mailing my resume to a recruiter and was hoping for some information about possible new jobs. The day Ms. Gable suggested I start leading ghost tours through downtown Charleston at night was the same day I decided to get the fuck out. I wouldn’t dare tell Lindsey or Nate, but I even told the recruiter I was open to moving. I couldn’t take one more comment about my pants not being appropriate before I snapped the woman in half.
Breakaway: A Hockey Romance Page 9